Khashoggi’s murderers’ fear of democracy: Column

By: Yasin Aktay*

The murder of Jamal Khashoggi that was planned in advance and conducted in an organized manner ended with the opposite of the desired outcome because of “a small misfortune” which was not plotted by the perpetrators, and the case continues to deliver such results. What was planned and calculated was entirely different to the outcome that has come about. We can all imagine how distressed the perpetrators are right now.

If they had a chance to go back in time, they would probably be ready to give up all of their wealth to not be involved in such a job. But we are at a point where there is no use to cry over spilt milk. Ambition and the desire for power always carry the risk for such consequences. One can be struck from their strongest side, the part of themselves they trust the most.

If Khashoggi was alive now, he was writing the boldest articles in the world and his writings were much more effective than before, how much harm he could have inflicted on his murderers? Those who murdered him are losing much more than they expected to gain. Now, they are facing the danger of losing their reputation, respectability, friends, alliances, influence, long-reaching authority, peace and more importantly, their spiritual and mental health.

Khashoggi’s soul is haunting them.

Could the punishment of an innocent murder come this fast?

We already said at the beginning that no one will take the risk to protect the suspects of the Khashoggi murder as they did before. Even Trump had to withdraw his initial support by making huge gaffes. Can the members of the alliance, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE’s Armed Forces Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who were responsible for all of the recent coups and civil wars which turned the Middle East into a blood bath, say anything? They all stopped speaking. Why can’t any of them deliver a statement supporting the allies with whom they have been acting jointly in every affair?

The committed crime is not simple and although everything happened under their alliance, they cannot claim it together. No one can be a part of this shame. This is a situation in which a person does not even recognize his own brother, as if it is the day of judgement.

The data revealed as a result of this murder also made it possible to see the world from a different perspective. Everyone opened their eyes, so to speak. Perhaps it is difficult to believe, but for a long time this axis was the only thing which would provoke the Western world’s Islamophobic motivations. The animosity to Islam is generally provoked by the leaders of these Muslim countries, and in most cases we falsely blame the Westerners.

Only by looking at the misinformation they have been spreading from the start to the end of the Khashoggi case and their ability to forge the concept of the enemy can we see what kind of disinformation the world had been subjected to over the recent years because of them.

It can be observed how this group, which has their own paid troll army and media organizations, was able to produce and use the “Islamic terrorism” rhetoric as they wish and label any person they wanted to target with this. It is a very well-known fact that those who conducted the Khashoggi murder in such a barbaric manner were making great efforts to demonize the Ikhwan movement, which was widespread around the globe and never had a tendency for using weapons or resorting to violence. Sisi, who accused Ikhwan of being terrorists, and Khashoggi’s murderers, who provided financial and lobbying support for this accusation, tend to forget that the same Ikhwan came into power with a democratic election and only one year later, they were forced out of power through a bloody military coup.

Moreover, Sisi, who orchestrated this military coup, preferred to slaughter at least 3,000 peaceful demonstrators who opposed the putsch. The only conclusion from this incident is the murder of 3,000 people at Rabaa al-Adawiya square resembles the barbarity of Daesh executions, a crime against humanity. However, Khashoggi’s murderers were able to fabricate stories about the evilness of Ikhwan, even from this incident.

I have reports of a meeting between some authorities from Saudi Arabia and the United States. The subject matter is the struggle against terrorism, the circumstances in Yemen, Iran and Egypt and Ikhwan.

What was striking in these reports was the response of U.S. authorities to the pressure from the Saudi Arabian side to acknowledge Ikhwan as a terrorist organization both in Egypt and Yemen. In this matter, the lobbying activities of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE to pass a proposal in U.S. Congress to accept Ikhwan as a terrorist organization was also mentioned.

Oddly enough, the U.S. side said to their Saudi counterparts that despite their insistence on the matter, Washington did not know on what basis could they recognize Ikhwan as terrorists, and that it would be difficult to do so just because they are an opposition group.

Over the last months, the initiatives about Ikhwan taken by some members of Congress based on a report related to Ikhwan is a result of these efforts.

These lobbying activities are trying to demonize the most widespread, most peaceful and most respectable civil society organization of the Muslim world in the eyes of the West. Since it is clear as day how this group is abusing their media and lobbying capacity after the Khashoggi case, we can also understand from what perspective the West sees the Muslim world.

If one asks, “What is the source of their fear of Ikhwan”, the only reason one can find is democracy.

The fear of Ikhwan is the fear of democracy.

Isn’t it the time to question with what kind of motivations the Western world has been forming alliances with the enemies of democracy?

How many more Khashoggi cases are needed to see the truth?

*Yasin Aktay is President Erdogan’s adviser, a member of the Turkish parliament, and a leading figure of the ruling Justice and Development (AK Party) in Turkey. (Published in Yeni Şafak Turkısh newspaper on 31 Oct., 2018)

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